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It just used to be easier than this

I remember back in high school when riding my motorcycle was my only way of getting from here to there. It was so easy and simple. The bike was always there, tucked into a corner of the carport. On the spur of the moment, I'd hop on it, jump down on the kick starter, then head most anywhere with hardly a moment's thought.

Now, however, it's different. It's just not so simple anymore.

Before taking a ride, I find my regular glasses, then my sunglasses, and the case for the unused pair. Then there's the full-face helmet and the earplugs or the custom earplugs hooked to the iPod via a dangly wire that needs to be wound though and tucked into a half dozen openings.

Of course, there's the armored jacket or the armored winter jacket, plus the Gerbing's vest and the electrical cords and plugs, or maybe the armored summer jacket. Changing into my special boots is an absolute must. Then there's the special pants (did I remember to put some money in the pockets) and the water resistant overthings (just in case it rains).

And let's see, where did I put that garage door opener and my wallet. Should I take the summer gloves, the mild-weather leather gloves or the heavy-duty winter ones. And oh yeah, I need to carry my laptop and also drop by the store, so should I just bring some bungies or get in the closet and pull out the saddle bags.

Then finally, after disconnecting the battery tender and getting about three blocks from the house, I turn around and head back home because I forgot my cell phone. Thirty minutes after my first idea to take the bike, I'm actually on my way, but first, I need to stop off at the gas station to check the tire pressure. Ah, maybe I won't go to the store after all. I don't like walking in there looking like a space man, and besides, I think I forgot my credit card.

Where did the spontaneity go that was half the appeal of riding? Now I need a checklist as long as a space shuttle pilot's before launching out of the garage.

We rode yesterday for the first time since early December. I felt like it took me forever to gear up and go. Gerbings, jacket, overpants...which gloves should I wear? Ear plugs - no, go get the ear phones and the ipod, just in case I feel like listening to music. Plug in here, plug in there - I'm ready! Wait, 30 miles up the road, I realize I should have gotten gas. Oh, and after dressing up like the Micheline Man, I realize the most important thing...I gotta pee! Damn! That will have to wait.

I remember back in high school when riding my motorcycle was my only way of getting from here to there. It was so easy and simple. The bike was always there, tucked into a corner of the carport. On the spur of the moment, I'd hop on it, jump down on the kick starter, then head most anywhere with hardly a moment's thought.

Now, however, it's different. It's just not so simple anymore.

...

Where did the spontaneity go that was half the appeal of riding? Now I need a checklist as long as a space shuttle pilot's before launching out of the garage.

Makes perfect sense to me. On an occasion or two I have actually gotten to the garage and looked at the bike, thought through the get out to ride ritual, and then went back in and took a nap instead.

But some days I do go ride, so my thought on the list is to put my checklist on the wall of the garage in large type like the info signs at the drive in quick oil change place. That way I don't have to fumble around muttering "where is my list?"

'98 BMW Z3 Roadster, '00 R1100RT

If you insist on exercising a right to burn our flag, first be so kind as to wrap yourself in it and then douse yourself with gasoline just before you strike the match.

Great post! And soooo true! I empathize with you. It is not as easy as it once was. Like you I used to just jump on, start her up and ride. Nowadays I have routines. But then again I am ATTGAT and usually making sure I have other "necessities".
JD

where did it go

Good question, There is no doubt that atgatt makes a little work. As for me when I deceide to go for a ride as long as I don't loose momentum by overthinking I get going pretty easy. However when planning for a whole day of it I can get bogged down with thought. This must be the difference between being 47 vs. 20. The older we get the more we know, only fools rush in , but they might be on to something?

Neat thread! I wonder if anyone else noticed that the delays seem to be caused by "stuff"? Cell phones, I-pods, laptops, etc, etc... Cut the electronic umbilical cord!!! Just grab your gear, crank the bike up and GO!!! While it's good to have a cell phone handy "just in case", the rest is fluff that just interferes with the RIDE. Just my two cents worth... Vaya con Dios, Dutch

I used to strap on the 3/4 helmet and go. Now it involves at least a jacket gloves as well. Someday soon I plan on adding a a Triumph Bonneville T-100 or maybe an airhead as a nod to the simpler times you reference. It won't be a long distance steed or really anything beyond a small, lightweight, around-town transportation device used much like a scooter. The GS will still rule the major transportation duties.

Someday soon I plan on adding a a Triumph Bonneville T-100 or maybe an airhead as a nod to the simpler times you reference. It won't be a long distance steed or really anything beyond a small, lightweight, around-town transportation device used much like a scooter. The GS will still rule the major transportation duties.

Don't dismiss the Triumph as a scooter alternative. Several guys over at ADV have found they prefer their Scramblers to the GS.

I am grinning ear to ear on this one. I swear the older you get the more you think you need. But I also dress to protect my body...which I have greatly abused during my 55 yrs. Now I need to protect what I have left. So putting gear on is a 15-20 minute routine. Boots those darn SIDI boots after I put on the pants.

Oh well, weather is starting to warm up here in Ohio! Soon, very soon I just have to finish up adding more farkles to the bike.

The past

One of the things I am sure that was better and less complicated in the past was the music. It would be nice to split the difference between ATGATT and half naked-no protection- of a hardtail chopper rider . When I get suited up I feel like the adopted child of the Michelin man and Frankenstein.

I am grinning ear to ear on this one. I swear the older you get the more you think you need. But I also dress to protect my body...which I have greatly abused during my 55 yrs. Now I need to protect what I have left. So putting gear on is a 15-20 minute routine. Boots those darn SIDI boots after I put on the pants.

Oh well, weather is starting to warm up here in Ohio! Soon, very soon I just have to finish up adding more farkles to the bike.

There is much truth in the above quote. At my age I'm only half fast as well.

For me it is not any more complicated just complicated in different ways. I started out on used Brit bikes. A well spent Saturday morning up keep ment you may make to the next Saturday's ritual. Batteries died, things rattled loose and you dare not leave without your tool kit. Now there is the regular walk around to make certain things are alright as I don my gear then poke the starter button and head to work. The more things change the more they stay the same.

Shades of the Past

Today I took my wife's Honda CB250 Nighthawk out for a test ride. Over the winter she had not ridden much, and on the last ride there was some hesitation when accelerating. I did a carb teardown and cleaning to see if that was the culprit and put in fresh gas. The problem was solved.
Instead of the standard AGATT, I just grabbed my helmet, gloves and my 1985 Brooks leather jacket (I'll have had it 25 years this summer, AND IT STILL FITS!!) and jumped on. I still had my work blue jeans and light hiking boots on from crawling around the bike. It seemed weird to be out in the wind, but it did take me back to simpler times: Shades of '84 and my first roadbike, a Yamaha XS400 .
There is a lot to be said for simplicity, but I figure that my usual extra covering is a lot better than skin grafts.

Seems I used to hop on the bike in younger teen years in whatever I had on...it took longer to start a lot of them as I had some worn out bikes to start out with. Dead battery, flooded engine,low tires, loose chain, broken shoelace on my Chuka boots,etc. Still had my Bell brainbucket in place.
Fast forward to my 40's and the Cruiser comeback still without a whole lot of gear...at least the bikes fired right up and the chain was a belt.

Now it seems so automatic and sequential in method since it is almost a daily thing...even with gear and tunes. Have to put earplugs in either way, so ones with wires are no big deal to me.
I take longer to pre flight the bikes than I do gearing up. At 53, I am not so bulletproof as I thought I was at 20 ,but clearer in thought and methods. I can go from deciding to ride to out the gate in less than 10 minutes...half of that checking the bike.
Unless I forget my camera...or my phone....or my list of things to do today 300 yards back at the house

Steve Henson
SABMWRA MOA Club#62's Flat Fixer/ current forum moderator
It's not the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away-D.Dillon/G. Strait

I used to ride a Ducati 250 Thumper up and down California, including times when it actually hailed...no helmet

Nowadays, I have a tube relief system so I don't have to stop every five minutes at a truck stop to bleed the lizard...and thus, I can continue to listen to to my Jimi Hendrix long version of FoxyLady on my earphones...without interruptions.